Boris Johnson 'intends to renounce US citizenship' - BBC News BBC News Boris Johnson 'intends to renounce US citizenship' 15 February 2015 Close share panel Image copyright Getty Images Boris Johnson says he intends to renounce his American citizenship to prove his "commitment to Britain". He told the Sunday Times that his citizenship was "an accident of birth that has left me with this thing. I've got to find a way of sorting it out." The Mayor of London, who was born in New York, has in the past been forced to pay US tax because of his American citizenship. He has just completed a six-day tour of cities in the US. Mr Johnson said he would approach US ambassador Matthew Barzun to explore what steps he had to take to give up his American nationality. The Conservative politician - who was born in Manhattan in 1964 and holds a US passport alongside a British one - said that relinquishing his citizenship was a "laborious business, they don't make it easy for you".

Tax bill His passport was renewed in November 2012 but he had previously stated that he would give it up after being told in 2006 that, as a native born American, he could only use a US passport to travel in that country, and not his British one. "The reason I'm thinking I probably will want to make a change is that my commitment is, and always has been, to Britain," he said. In January he settled a US tax bill he had previously described as "absolutely outrageous". Mr Johnson had faced a demand from the US authorities to pay capital gains tax on profits from the sale of his house in north London. American law requires all citizens to pay US taxes even if they live abroad. Mr Johnson is running for parliament in Uxbridge and South Ruislip in the forthcoming general election. In 2012 he told US chat show host David Letterman that he could "technically speaking" become US president, as that nation requires its presidential candidates to be a "natural-born citizen". His trade mission to the US this week was aimed at bolstering London's science and technology industries. He began his east coast tour in Boston before heading to New York City and Washington DC.

About Boris - Boris Johnson Boris Johnson Search for: About Boris Mayor of London (since May 2008) MP for Henley-on-Thames (June 2001 - May 2008) Shadow Minister for Higher Education (December 2005 - July 2007) Editor of The Spectator (August 1999 - December 2005) Shadow Minister for the Arts (April 2004 - November 2004) Vice-Chairman of the Conservative Party (October 2003 - November 2004) Mr Johnson was born on 19 June 1964 in New York, USA, educated at Eton (King's Scholar), and Balliol College, Oxford (Brackenbury Scholar in Classics). He worked for The Times, The Wolverhampton Express and Star before joining The Daily Telegraph, where he was successively a leader and feature writer, EU Correspondent, and Assistant Editor.

In 1997 he was voted "What the Papers Say" Political Commentator of the Year; in 1998 he was mystifyingly designated Pagan Federation of Great Britain National Journalist of the Year; in 2003 he was voted Editors' Editor of the Year; in 2004 he was voted Columnist of the Year at the British Press Awards and in December 2005 What the Papers Say Columnist of the Year. He was voted Channel 4 News Award for the person who made the biggest impression on the politics of 2004, 2005. He writes a weekly column for The Daily Telegraph, and has published six books: Friends, Voters, Countrymen; Lend Me Your Ears, Seventy Two Virgins, Dream of Rome, Have I Got Views for You and Life in the Fast Lane: The Johnson Guide to Cars and The Perils of the Pushy Parents, A Cautionary Tale. On May 2nd 2008, Boris was elected Mayor of London by over 1,000,000 Londoners. Mr Johnson is married to Marina and they have two sons and two daughters.

More unmoderated information is available here: Wikipedia: Boris Johnson New York-born Mayor of London is tough on crime, German soccer players - NY Daily News New York-born Mayor of London is tough on crime, German soccer players New York-born Mayor of London is tough on crime, German soccer players London's new mayor, Boris Johnson, is a former New Yorker - and a loose cannon. (Berehulak/Getty) Boris Johnson is the new Mayor of London . Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson to be precise. And though the usually dishevelled politician with a spectacular mop of hair is in a relatively small political job in the UK , you can bet you will be hearing about him in the months ahead. Johnson - born in New York to English parents in 1964 and, until recently, an American citizen, has a knack of putting his foot in his mouth and has a past littered with quotes that have caused uproar at home and abroad.

In the words of BBC political reporter Brian Wheeler , Johnson has "an unerring ability to sabotage his own career with his sense of fun - and apparent refusal to take things too seriously." But his quick wit - he won a scholarship to the UK's best-known private school, Eton - his seemingly bumbling appearance and sharp sense of humour have been stronger factors in his public appeal than his political pronouncements. As a Conservative (Tory) Member of Parliament he once famously promoted the party by saying: "Voting Tory will cause your wife to have bigger breasts and increase your chances of owning a BMW M3 ." In 2006, he had to apologize to an entire country after suggesting in a newspaper column that Papua New Guinea was known for "cannibalism and chief-killing." That kind of comment led to him being dubbed "the thinking man's idiot." The magazine editor, journalist, author and occasional TV host has a powerful intellect, but political gaffes and sometimes downright offensive turns of phrase have been tempered with uncanny ability to shake off controversy. He said of former Prime Minister Tony Blair : "It is just flipping unbelievable. He is a mixture of Harry Houdini and a greased piglet.

He is barely human in his elusiveness. Nailing Blair is like trying to pin jelly to a wall." In the elections for a new leader of the Conservative party he said he supported David Cameron (who eventually won) "purely out of cynical self-interest." And he was widely condemned for describing President Bush as "a cross-eyed Texan warmonger, unelected, inarticulate, who epitomizes the arrogance of American foreign policy." Johnson has been twice married and has been dogged by allegations of infidelity. Last week in his opening speech as Mayor of London, Johnson pledged to tackle crime and teenage delinquency as he prepared take over in City Hall. But he is equally well known to teenagers for another kind of tough tackling. Hundreds of thousands have viewed the tackle he made in a celebrity soccer match between England and Germany to commemorate the 40th anniversary of England winning the soccer World Cup. ( Watch it here .) The tackle was as subtle as some of his comments.

Boris Johnson: From Gaffe-Prone Mayor To Brexit Leader - NewsHub Boris Johnson: From Gaffe-Prone Mayor To Brexit Leader 30 June, 2016 2:06 PM Tweet 158 0 London, United Kingdom: Top Brexit campaigner Boris Johnson, who pulled off one of his most sensational coups de theatre Thursday, is an unmistakable figure on Britain's political stage with his blond mop-top and bumbling manner. The former London mayor shocked the nation by announcing he would not, after all, join the race to be Conservative Party leader and prime minister, triggering immediate derision on social media. "Baby Boris goes back to the nursery while grown-ups clean up his mess," wrote Twitter user @ScoopAlley, one of the more printable comments denouncing Johnson for plunging Britain into its worst turmoil for decades and then not being prepared to take charge. Dubbed 'Boxit' online, it was all the more stunning given that the 52-year-old ex-journalist was one step from his dream of succeeding his old Etonian and Oxford University friend David Cameron at 10 Downing Street.

It came exactly a week after Britain's vote to quit the European Union, a victory for the "Leave" campaign of which Johnson was the figurehead. Similar news Theresa May puts Britain on course for `hard` Brexit The leadership ambitions of the former Brussels-based journalist have been the worst-kept secret in British politics, ever since victory in London's mayoral race eight years ago sent his profile skyrocketing. However, there were those within the party who felt naked ambition drove him to join the "Leave" campaign, against the best interests of the party. Former prime minister John Major had dismissed Johnson as a "court jester" with no hope of leading the Tories. Also read: Prime Minister Modi pays tributes to ‘Cho’ Ramaswamy But the public appeared to be able to forgive his inconsistencies and frequent gaffes, twice electing him as a Conservative mayor of London -- a Labour Party stronghold -- and helping him to defy the odds and lead Britain out of the EU. Known to millions simply as Boris, he was born in New York in 1964 as Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson into a competitive and high-achieving family.

His father Stanley was a Conservative member of the European Parliament, one brother, Jo, is a minister in Cameron's government and his sister Rachel is a journalist and writer. Rachel Johnson told her brother's biographer that, as a child, he wanted to be "king of the world" when he grew up. Johnson won a scholarship to Eton, one of Britain's most prestigious schools, which Cameron also attended two years below him. The pair were then contemporaries at Oxford University and both members of the Bullingdon Club, an elite, all-male dining society known for its rowdy behaviour. Similar news British PM Theresa May whittles down Brexit trade options Biographers say Johnson was touted as a future prime minister at Oxford while Cameron kept a lower profile, sowing the seeds of their rivalry in government. After graduating, Johnson became a journalist, working at The Times and The Daily Telegraph newspapers -- including as Brussels correspondent -- and editing right-wing political magazine The Spectator. He became a lawmaker for the then opposition Conservatives in 2001 and was later appointed as a shadow arts minister before being sacked from the role over accusations of lying about an alleged extra-marital affair.

In 2008, he became London mayor and stepped down from the House of Commons. Despite constant speculation, Johnson had always batted away rumours about his political ambitions, once saying that his chances of being prime minister were on a par with "my being reincarnated as an olive". After successfully standing for re-election in 2012 Johnson left City Hall in May to spearhead the "Leave" campaign, whose shock victory last week triggered turmoil in Westminster which is set to continue long beyond Thursday's dramatic events. "Oh well, it's a good job Boris Johnson's aborted leadership bid had no lasting negative consequences for the country," wrote Twitter user @OwenJones84. New York-born London mayor Boris Johnson refuses to pay US tax bill | Politics | The Guardian Boris Johnson New York-born London mayor Boris Johnson refuses to pay US tax bill Politician says he is ignoring US demand for capital gains tax, despite row with country’s UK embassy over unpaid charges Boris Johnson walks around Times Square in New York City.

Photograph: Ramin Talaie/Getty Images Thursday 20 November 2014 10.24 EST First published on Thursday 20 November 2014 05.50 EST Close This article is 2 years old Boris Johnson has revealed that he is refusing to pay a tax demand issued to him by US authorities – despite previously lambasting the US embassy in London over its failure to pay the congestion charge. The mayor of London, who was born in New York and holds a US passport as well as a British one, visited the country last week to promote his book and said during an interview with NPR (National Public Radio) that he had been hit with a demand for capital gains tax. He said the US demand related to his first home in the UK, which was not subject to capital gains tax in England. All US citizens, including those with dual citizenship, are legally obliged to file a tax return and liable to pay US taxes , wherever they are living, even if the income is earned abroad. Asked whether he would pay the bill, Johnson initially avoided the question. But when it was put to him a second time, he replied: “No is the answer. I think it’s absolutely outrageous.

Why should I? I think, you know, I’m not a … I, you know, I haven’t lived in the United States for, you know, well, since I was five years old … I pay the lion’s share of my tax, I pay my taxes to the full in the United Kingdom where I live and work.” Johnson, who is bidding to return to parliament at the next general election and has been tipped to replace David Cameron as leader if the Tories lose power, was then asked why he continued to carry a US passport, to which he responded: “It’s very difficult to give up.” Johnson has continually pressed the US embassy to pay unpaid fines it has incurred for the congestion charge. The embassy has refused to do so, claiming the charge is a tax and therefore its diplomats are immune. During a visit to the UK by Barack Obama in 2011, Johnson reportedly asked him for a £5m cheque for unpaid congestion charges but the US ambassador intervened before the president could answer. By last year the amount the US embassy owed in congestion charge fines had risen to more than £7m , the most of any diplomatic mission in the capital.

Johnson would also be liable to pay US income tax as he earns well above the foreign-earned income exclusion – the level up to which no tax is paid on income earned by US citizens overseas – which was set at $97,600 (£62,000) last year. As mayor, he earns a salary of £144,000 and on top of that he is paid £250,000 a year for his column in the Telegraph . Johnson did not disclose whether he paid US taxes on his income during the interview. The mayor’s spokesman said he would not be commenting further on his US tax affairs. Why London Mayor Boris Johnson Is Renouncing His American Citizenship (the IRS) - The Atlantic The Atlantic London Mayor Boris Johnson Hates the IRS, Too The dual citizen says he's renouncing his birthright after getting a fat tax bill from Uncle Sam. Darren Staples/Reuters Print Text Size What's more American than Boris Johnson? Brash, self-confident, charismatic, profane, ambitious and upwardly mobile but skeptical of authority, the mayor of London (who was born in New York City) seems like he'd fit right in on this side of the Atlantic.

But Johnson is forsaking the land of his birth—and in particularly spiteful fashion—announcing he intends to renounce his American citizenship after wrapping a tour of the United States, during which he boosted the Boston Olympic bid, met with leaders in Washington, and was reportedly mistaken for Donald Trump in New York. Johnson's British parents were living in New York City when he was born, making him an American citizen . That has cost him. In November, Johnson was blustering (as he is wont to do) about the U.S. government trying to hit him with a massive tax bill. Johnson sold a house in London for a cool £730,000 profit, and as U.S. citizens are required to pay capital-gains tax on overseas transactions, Uncle Sam sent Mayor Boris a bill. The amount is unknown—aides insisted a £100,000 estimate was overly high (the IRS cannot legally comment on individual cases), but Johnson said he wouldn't pay : “No, is the answer. I think, it's absolutely outrageous. Why should I?

I think, you know, I'm not a—I, you know, I haven't lived in the United States for, you know, well, since I was five years old." Fittingly, the reason for Johnson's move is also quintessentially American: He hates the IRS. Related Story Why the Ex-Patriot Act Is a Creepy Law Something changed between then and now, because Johnson's camp says he's settled the bill . Even for the staunchest advocate of confiscatory taxes, Johnson is a sympathetic case. He's clearly for all intents and purposes a Briton (despite joking with David Letterman a few years ago that, as a natural-born U.S. citizen, he could run for president), and comes to the current situation only because of the collision of two unusual features in American law: first, birthright citizenship, the granting of a passport to any baby born here; and second, the fact that the law requires Americans to pay taxes on all global income, which as The Wall Street Journal notes is not a universal practice. Johnson isn't the only American citizen to find himself in such a bind—though his unusual circumstances and peculiar shock of hair set him apart.

Many expats complain that they're unfairly penalized by conflicting systems that are hard to understand, leading them to underpay without intending to or else be forced to double-pay taxes. Since a 2010 law gave the IRS more info on Americans' bank accounts , ever greater numbers of Americans have been giving up their citizenship. The most high-profile case was Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin , but a record 3,415 people did so in 2014, according to Bloomberg , including a 37 percent leap in the final quarter of the year alone. Since many of these people are high earners seeking to hold on to as much of their wealth as they can, they garner little sympathy stateside. Since many of these people are high earners seeking to hold on to as much of their wealth as they can, they garner little sympathy stateside. Saverin was pilloried by politicians . For many of them, it may be a difficult decision between their homeland and their pocketbooks, with the pocketbooks winning out. That's less true for Johnson, with little direct connection to the U.S. But the law of renunciation might give some hint into his sudden acquiescence with the tax bill.

To surrender citizenship, a person has to have been compliant with all tax laws, including interest and penalties, for five years. (Depending on his net worth, he could also be subject to an exit tax.) One might be well-served to withhold final judgment on the whole matter until one has seen the signed papers. Johnson threatened to renounce his citizenship in 2006, too, enraged that he wasn't allowed to enter the U.S. on his British passport. U.S. officials told him that since in the eyes of U.S. law he was a citizen, he needed to show an American passport. He recounted it in a typically hilarious rant — As far as I can interpret the psychology of the rule, which has only been applied since 9/11, it is part of America’s new them-and-us mentality, the Manichaean division of the world into Americans and non-Americans, obliterating any category in between. Listen, buddy, the Americans seem to be saying. You got a right to be American? Then you do us the courtesy of travelling on the world’s number one passport when you come here. What you got to be ashamed of, boy?

—but what he didn't do at the time was to actually go through the legal work of renunciation. Now, the fat tax bill has given him new reason to do so. The British press suggests he may have another reason for doing so, too: his longstanding desire to become prime minister. While there's no legal obstacle to becoming PM as a dual citizen, The Telegraph suggests he might want to preempt any suggestions of divided loyalty. Still, it must be a bittersweet moment for the mayor. His decision comes not long after the publication of his biography of Winston Churchill, another irascible character whose journey to 10 Downing Street Johnson he would like to emulate. Such is Johnson's "unrestrained idolatry" that the Times Literary Supplement panned the book as a "jaunty, opinionated and ahistorical piece of hagiography." Both men came from prominent families, and both were professional writers before entering politics. Both also had American connections: Churchill's mother was American, and had he been born after 1934, he would have been an American citizen, too. (Before then, American citizenship was handed down only from the father.) Instead, John F. Kennedy bestowed honorary U.S.

citizenship on Churchill in 1963 . It must be galling for Johnson to have to take the opposite tack, going out of his way to shed citizen status. Not as galling as that tax bill, though. BBC NEWS | UK | UK Politics | The Boris Johnson story The Boris Johnson story By Brian Wheeler Political reporter, BBC News In an age of on-message machine politicians, Boris Johnson - who has just been elected mayor of London - is a one-off. Often described as a buffoon, even by his admirers, his bumbling, self-deprecating persona has long made him one of the best known politicians through his appearances on TV chat shows. BORIS JOHNSON Marital status: Married with four children Political party: Conservatives Time as MP: Has represented Henley in Oxfordshire since 2001 Previous jobs: Editor of The Spectator; assistant editor and Brussels correspondent of The Daily Telegraph; television host He has the typical upper class English background of Eton public school, Oxford University and a father who is a Conservative politician.

But he is no stereotypical aristocrat - he was born in New York and was a US citizen until recently, his early schooling was in Brussels, he is descended from a minister in the Ottoman Empire and his children are, as he put it, a quarter Indian. Nothing about the 43-year-old now given huge powers over one of the world's great cities is as straightforward as it appears. His academic records prove him to have powerful intellect, while colleagues and friends attest to an equally powerful sense of ambition. And yet he has also had an unerring ability to sabotage his own career with his sense of fun - and apparent refusal to take things too seriously - proving his undoing on more than one occasion. Idyllic childhood Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (he is still known to family members as Al) was born in New York to English parents in 1964 and was, until recently, an American citizen. He is of Turkish descent. His great-grandfather, Ali Kemal, a Turkish journalist, was briefly interior minister in the government of Ahmed Tevfik Pasha, Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire.

His grandfather Osman Ali settled in the UK in the 1920s and changed his name to Wilfred Johnson. Mr Johnson appears to have had an idyllic childhood spent, in part, on the family farm on Exmoor. IN HIS OWN WORDS "Try as I might I could not look at an overhead projection of a growth-profit matrix and stay conscious" - on his week-long career in management consultancy "Voting Tory will cause your wife to have bigger breasts and increase your chances of owning a BMW M3" - on the campaign trail in 2004 "If I was in charge I would get rid of Jamie Oliver and tell people to eat what they like" - striking a blow for the right to eat pies at the 2006 Tory conference. He later described Oliver as a "national saint" "I think if I made a huge effort always to have a snappy, inspiring soundbite on my lips, I think the sheer mental strain of that would be such that I would explode" - on his unique political style "I think I was once given cocaine but I sneezed and so it did not go up my nose.

In fact, I may have been doing icing sugar" - after being questioned on Have I Got News for You about drug use "I will add Papua New Guinea to my global itinerary of apology" - after suggesting the country was known for "chief-killing and cannibalism" "I have not had an affair with Petronella. It is complete balderdash. It is an inverted pyramid of piffle" - on press reports of his relationship with Ms Wyatt The Johnsons were a close-knit, boisterous clan, forever trying to outdo each other at table tennis or general-knowledge quizzes, or even who could learn to read the fastest. In competition with his brother and two sisters, Boris always had to come out on top, but his ambition did not end there. Asked what he wanted to be when he grew up, he would say: "The world king." In the early 1970s his father, Stanley, moved the family to Brussels after landing a job at the European Commission, in charge of pollution control. Boris attended the European School in the Belgian capital, where he befriended his future wife Marina Wheeler, daughter of BBC journalist Charles Wheeler.

But in 1973, with his parents' marriage falling apart, he headed off to boarding school in England. He shone at Ashdown House Preparatory School in East Sussex, developing a lifelong passion for the Classics and winning a scholarship to the UK's best-known public school, Eton, where he quickly made an impression. His headmaster at the school which Prince William and Prince Harry were later to attend, Sir Eric Anderson, was also Tony Blair's housemaster during his schooldays at Fettes - often dubbed the Scottish Eton. Sir Eric could spot similarities between the two future politicians. "Both of them opted to live on their wits rather than preparation," he told Mr Johnson's biographer, Andrew Gimson. "They both enjoyed performing. In both cases people found them life-enhancing and fun to have around, but also maddening." But unlike Mr Blair, Mr Johnson did not rebel against the system. "Boris wasn't a rebel at all - a satirist and a humorist rather than a rebel," added Sir Eric. 'Old duffer' In 1983, Mr Johnson arrived at Balliol College in Oxford to study the Classics.

WHAT OTHERS SAY "The bumbling quiz-show host isn't the real Boris at all. I suspect he's tired of that clownish persona and wants to show us the real Boris - orator, leader, heavyweight thinker. Those qualities are there in his personality; they just don't come across on telly" - journalist friend Lloyd Evans "Like all politicians, he is sometimes required to talk anodyne or disingenuous rot, but unlike the remainder, he cannot keep a straight face while doing this" - Spectator columnist Rod Liddle "Despite manic self-absorption, he is a really nice guy. He conveys a vulnerability which, allied to his gift for laughter, does much to explain his appeal to girls" - ex-Telegraph editor Max Hastings "Boris wasn't a rebel at all - a satirist and a humorist rather than a rebel" - Sir Eric Anderson, headmaster at Eton "You're a self-centred, pompous twit; even your body language on TV is wrong. You don't look right, never mind act right.

Get out of public life!" Paul Bigley, brother of Iraq hostage Ken, tells Boris off on BBC Radio Merseyside The 19-year-old was obsessed with politics, and Oxford proved to the perfect place to learn his trade. He was already known for his sense of humour and his bumbling "old-duffer" persona - but he also displayed a ruthless streak in his pursuit of his political aims. He even briefly spurned his Conservative allegiances in favour of the then fashionable SDP as part of his successful campaign to be president of the Oxford Union. He was also elected to the elite Bullingdon Club, famed for its hard-drinking, riotous behaviour. Fellow members included his close friend Charles Spencer, younger brother of Diana, Princess of Wales, plus the future Tory leader David Cameron. In one group photograph - which would later come back to haunt him - Mr Johnson is pictured lounging decadently in his ï¿½1,200 Bullingdon Club tailcoat, alongside Mr Cameron. The Bullingdon Club was infamous for trashing local restaurants, before handing over a cheque to cover the damage.

Finding a wife Evidence of Mr Johnson's involvement in such wild antics is hard to come by, although he has been more candid on the subject of drug use. He has owned up to smoking cannabis as a teenager and has made jokey references to taking cocaine, saying on Have I Got News for You: "I think I was once given cocaine but I sneezed and so it did not go up my nose. In fact, I may have been doing icing sugar." "Operation Scouse Grovel", as it was dubbed, turned into an ordeal Halfway through his first year, he met and fell in love with Allegra Mostyn-Owen, a fellow student who also modelled for Tatler in her spare time. In 1987 - when they were both just 23 - he married Allegra in a grand ceremony at a Shropshire stately home, complete with an opera singer and a string quartet. According to Andrew Gimson's account, Mr Johnson managed to turn up in the wrong clothes - walking down the aisle in trousers belonging to Tory MP John Biffen - and lost his wedding ring within an hour of receiving it.

The marriage lasted less than three years, by which time Mr Johnson was beginning to make a name for himself as a journalist in Brussels. 'Biggest cock-up' His first attempt at forging a career, as a trainee management consultant, lasted a week. "Try as I might I could not look at an overhead projection of a growth-profit matrix and stay conscious," he later recalled. His career in journalism very nearly fell at the first hurdle too, after he was sacked by The Times for making up a quote. The media discovered a new character in "Boris" and his gaffes He had been trying to spice up a dull story about an archaeological dig but the editor - and the history don he "quoted", who also happened to be his godfather - failed to see the funny side. He described the episode in an interview with The Independent in 2002 as his "biggest cock-up". Luckily for him, the then Daily Telegraph editor, Sir Max Hastings, was prepared to overlook this indiscretion. He took on Mr Johnson as a leader writer and then the newspaper's Brussels correspondent. Sir Max was impressed by his young protege's energy, intelligence and unique personality.

'Flashes of instability' "Over the next few years, he developed the persona which has become famous today, a facade resembling that of PG Wodehouse's Gussie Finknottle, allied to wit, charm, brilliance and startling flashes of instability," Sir Max wrote recently in The Observer. Mr Johnson took to his new role with relish, merrily debunking the stuffy European institutions his father had served as a commissioner and Tory MEP. But disaster loomed again, when a tape surfaced of an old Oxford friend Darius Guppy, who had been convicted of fraud, asking him to help locate a witness. "He did not say yes, but neither did he say no," recalled Sir Max who interrogated him about the tape which had been sent to the Telegraph anonymously. "He evoked all of his self-parodying skills as a waffler. Words stumbled forth...never intended...old friend...took no action...misunderstanding," added Sir Max in the Observer. He said he was satisfied Johnson had not been guilty of any impropriety and "dispatched him back to Brussels with a rebuke". His career at the Telegraph blossomed and he was promoted to assistant editor and chief political columnist.

Romantic pursuit He was, by now, married to Marina Wheeler, his childhood friend from Brussels, who had become a successful barrister. The two had never quite lost touch and after his divorce from Allegra, he set about pursuing her with characteristic persistence. Their first child, Lara Lettice, was born in 1993, with three more children - Milo Arthur, Cassia Peaches and Theodore Apollo - following in quick succession. Mr Johnson's journalistic career was now going from strength to strength and he had also developed an unlikely sideline as a TV personality, after an appearance on the BBC panel show Have I Got News for You in 1998. Words poured from him - motoring columns, after-dinner speeches, TV documentaries, even a novel. Collections of his newspaper columns became bestsellers. But it was not enough. He still harboured political ambitions. The blond hair and the bicycle are Mr Johnson's trademarks He had stood unsuccessfully for the Conservatives at the 1997 general election, in the Labour stronghold of Clwyd South.

Two years later, when he was made editor of The Spectator, he told its proprietor at the time, Conrad [now Lord] Black, he would give up politics to concentrate full-time on the magazine. But he continued to agonise over his decision in private, confessing to friend Charles Moore: "I want to have my cake and eat it". In 2001 he stood for Michael Heseltine's old seat, in Henley in Oxfordshire, and won. But with The Spectator continuing to publish articles which proved embarrassing or irritating to some of his new Parliamentary colleagues it was, perhaps, only a matter of time before Mr Johnson came unstuck. It was an unsigned Spectator editorial, accusing the citizens of Liverpool of wallowing in their "victim status" over the murdered Iraq hostage Ken Bigley, which finally did it. The Tory leader at the time, Michael Howard, resisted calls to sack Mr Johnson. He had what turned out to be a far worse fate in mind - and dispatched his errant culture spokesman to Liverpool to apologise to the entire city. The mission quickly descended into farce, however, as he was pursued by a media pack hungry for more gaffes.

One reporter described it as an "Ealing comedy". On a radio phone-in he was given a humiliating dressing down by Paul Bigley, brother of Ken, who told him: "You're a self-centred, pompous twit; even your body language on TV is wrong." 'Pyramid of piffle' Mr Johnson bumbled his way through it as best he could. "Are you trying to save your political career," shouted one journalist. "I haven't got a political career," came the reply. Appearances on Have I Got News for You earned him a new following He endured the ordeal, which he later dubbed "Operation Scouse Grovel", with good grace. But he was sacked by Mr Howard a few weeks later in any case, for allegedly lying over an affair with journalist Petronella Wyatt - something he vehemently denied. When challenged about the relationship by the Mail on Sunday, Mr Johnson denied everything, calling stories about it an "inverted pyramid of piffle". He suffered the indignity of being thrown out of the family home - and was hounded by the tabloid press as he went for a run wearing a skull-and-crossbones bandana.

Mr Johnson was seen as good copy, always ready with an amusing quip or a fresh piece of buffoonery, but any hopes of climbing higher up the political ladder seemed to be over. Celebrity status In 2006, he had to apologise to an entire country after suggesting in a Telegraph column that Papua New Guinea was known for "cannibalism and chief-killing". He ruefully promised to add the nation "to my global itinerary of apology". Mr Johnson made headlines by mistaking football for rugby He was a major celebrity, recognised wherever he went. But he was becoming better known for his supposed gaffes - and subsequent apologies - than anything he had achieved as an MP. The man who had dreamed of being in the Cabinet by the age of 35 watched as Mr Cameron, an Eton and Oxford contemporary two years younger than him, grabbed the Tory leadership. Mr Cameron handed his old friend the junior role of higher education spokesman on the condition that he gave up editing The Spectator, which had seen its circulation soar under his guidance. There was a new sense of seriousness about the way Mr Johnson tackled the higher education brief.

But his irrepressible refusal to remain on-message - coupled with the media's insatiable appetite for his antics - was to reach new heights at the 2006 Tory party conference in Bournemouth. School dinners A crusade by TV chef Jamie Oliver to improve school dinners had been praised by Mr Cameron at the start of the conference. So when Johnson told a fringe meeting "if I was in charge I would get rid of Jamie Oliver and tell people to eat what they like", it was seized on by the media as another howler. Mr Johnson's wife Marina (left) went campaigning with Samantha Cameron Reporters - bored by a lack of stories elsewhere that day - began to gather outside the party's press cubicle, when word got round that the man himself was inside. The media scrum that followed dwarfed all previous outbreaks of Borismania. He later claimed he had been misquoted, describing Oliver as a "national saint". Mr Cameron decided to make a joke of it, telling delegates that Conservatives did not mind people "going off-message".

"We love it, actually," he said, but added: "Just don't do it all the time!" London mayor Mr Johnson had once again demonstrated his pulling power, by upstaging the party leader at his first conference in charge. But what did it all mean for his political career? Was he destined to a life on the margins, a colourful sideshow to the main event? With hindsight, the job of London mayor seemed the ideal outlet for his talents. But he was not persuaded to throw his hat into the ring until the very last minute. Mr Cameron had been determined to draft in someone from outside the party, preferably a well-known celebrity, to take on Labour incumbent Ken Livingstone as part of his efforts to broaden the Conservatives' appeal. Mr Johnson has always been willing to send himself up on television But when those efforts came to nothing, he turned to the party's own in-house celebrity. There was no question Mr Johnson had the energy and the charisma to take on Mr Livingstone, the mayor since 2000, but did he have the discipline to avoid putting his foot in it? The party was not taking any chances.

It drafted in Lynton Crosby, the tough Australian who had masterminded Mr Howard's 2005 general election campaign, to keep him in line. Mr Johnson knuckled down to the job of proving he was a serious candidate, displaying hitherto unseen levels of discipline and grasp of policy detail. Opponents began to wonder what had happened to "old Boris" - when, they wondered, was he going to make some outrageous gaffe or turn in befuddlement to an aide, as he had done on a previous occasion, and ask: "What is my policy on drugs?" Of course there will be the odd indiscretion Boris Johnson But he was having none of it. "There is no distinction between the old Boris and the new Boris. They are indivisible, co-eternal... consubstantial," he would reply testily when challenged about his new, serious persona. He said that the media had a "pent up rage" after spending the campaign "deprived of their prey - a Johnson blooper". He has stressed he is serious about running London and making "Greater London greater".

But as he put it in a BBC interview after winning the election: "Of course there will be the odd indiscretion." Yes, given his track record, it seems likely that the next four years with Mayor Boris will be anything but dull. Boris Johnson: joker mayor who dreams of leading Britain Boris Johnson: joker mayor who dreams of leading Britain Katherine Haddon Share View photos Commentators say London Mayor Boris Johnson's desire to be prime minister is likely to have played a major part in his decision to back Brexit (AFP Photo/Stephane De Sakutin) More London (AFP) - London Mayor Boris Johnson has long been both ally and nemesis to Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron but dealt his old friend the heaviest blow yet Sunday by backing the campaign to leave the EU. The leave campaign had lacked a unifying figurehead but Johnson's support is a major boost for them -- and a significant blow for Cameron, who he could eventually succeed as Conservative leader. Commentators say Johnson's desire for the top job is likely to have played a major part in his decision to back Brexit.

With his shock of blond hair and frequent gaffes, Johnson, 51, is one of Britain's most recognisable politicians, known to millions simply as Boris. His witty quips and shambolic appearance make him popular even with voters who do not share his political views. Johnson once said his chances of being prime minister were on a par with "my being reincarnated as an olive" and urged men to vote Conservative because it will "cause your wife to have bigger breasts and increase your chances of owning a BMW M3". Born in New York in 1964, Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson's family was competitive and high-achieving. His father was a Conservative member of the European Parliament, one brother, Jo, is a minister in Cameron's government and his sister Rachel is a journalist and writer. She told his biographer that, as a child, he wanted to be "king of the world" when he grew up. Johnson won a scholarship to Eton, one of Britain's most prestigious schools, which Cameron also attended two years below him.

The pair were then contemporaries at Oxford University and both members of the Bullingdon Club, an elite, all-male dining society known for its rowdy behaviour. Biographers say Johnson was touted as a future prime minister at Oxford while Cameron kept a lower profile, sowing the seeds of their rivalry in government. - 'Win-win' decision - After graduating, Johnson became a journalist, working at newspapers The Times and The Daily Telegraph -- including as Brussels correspondent -- and editing right-wing political magazine The Spectator. He became a lawmaker for the then opposition Conservatives in 2001 and was later appointed as a shadow arts minister before being sacked from the role over accusations of lying about an alleged extra-marital affair. In 2008, he became London Mayor and stepped down from the House of Commons. Johnson's proudest achievements at City Hall include overseeing the 2012 Olympics -- during which he was pictured dangling, stuck, from a zip wire -- and major transport works like Crossrail, a Â£15 billion (19 billion euro, $21 billion) rail project which when finished will connect areas east and west of the city.

The city's cycle rental scheme also bears his name -- "Boris Bikes" are now a highly popular method of getting around the congested city. While broadly seen as an ally of Cameron, Johnson -- who is married with four children -- has not always been seen as helpful to his old rival. In the run-up to last year's general election, Cameron reportedly used the f-word in a text message to Johnson telling him to "shut up" after the mayor wrote about how many Old Etonian prime ministers there had been. Johnson will step down as mayor at elections in May and is among the favourites to succeed Cameron, who will not stay on beyond the next general election in 2020. Commentators say Johnson is likely to have decided to come out in favour of Brexit based on what was most likely to win him the Conservative leadership. George Eaton, political editor of the New Statesman magazine, wrote Sunday that Johnson had calculated that backing out was a "win-win". "Should the UK vote to leave, David Cameron will almost certainly resign as prime minister and the mayor will be best placed to succeed him," he wrote.

And if Britain votes to stay, Johnson will have "earned the affection" of grassroots Conservative members, many of whom are eurosceptics, which would also boost his leadership hopes, Eaton added. Reblog

Question: In 1964, Boris Johnson, Mayor of London, was born in which major US city?
Answer: NEW YORK